Besides positive effects of an earlier developed load carriage system in which the load was carried predominantly on the hips, mobility was increased and protection and load carriage was integrated into one system (ILCS), tilting of the hip belt caused an unacceptable amount of discomfort. After optimization of the construction of the ILCS (ILCS-II), the performance while wearing the ILCS-II was compared with the performance while wearing the current load carriage system. Wearing the ILCS-II, with all the load carried on the hips, resulted in an unacceptable amount of discomfort. Wearing the ILCS-II, with the load partly carried on the hips and shoulders, resulted in less discomfort and a lower RPE score compared to wearing the current load carriage system. The increase in HR during walking was higher wearing the ILCS-II compared to the current load carriage system. Wearing the ILCS-II (with the load distributed on the hips and shoulders) has both advantages (less discomfort, lower RPE) and disadvantages (small increase in HR) compared to wearing the current load carriage system. Besides these results, in an earlier study an improved mobility was found wearing the ILCS(-II) compared to the current load carriage system. Based on these results, the ILCS-II seems to be an improvement for the operational performance compared to the current load carriage system.

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